


The Wake Of The Canoe

by revenblue



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Buford joins the Fireside Girls... kinda, Family Bonding, Friendship, Gen, POV Third Person Omniscient, Post-Candace Against The Universe, Spoilers for Candace Against The Universe, fireside girl patches, nothing like a funeral for an inanimate object to bring everyone together, of the found family variety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26761045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/revenblue/pseuds/revenblue
Summary: In the aftermath of the day's excitement, Buford starts picking up the pieces. Literally.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 31





	The Wake Of The Canoe

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be Canuford but I couldn't fold in enough references to justify a tag.

In the aftermath of the day's excitement, one Buford van Stomm strode through the damaged stadium, gathering up the remnants of his beloved canoe. She, for all seafaring vessels (seafaring even if they had not yet seen water) were _she_ , had served them all well this day.

"Buford," Isabella began, watching him. "What are you doing?"

Baljeet, following along behind Buford, lifted his head. "Is it not obvious? We owe our lives to this canoe, it is only right that we give it a proper farewell."

Shrugging, Phineas joined in. "He makes a good point. How about you, Ferb, what do you think?"

Ferb held up the largest remaining chunk of canoe.

"Excellent."

* * *

It was, of course, a proper Viking funeral. Or at least the sort shown in movies. The shards of canoe lay piled up on another boat entirely, on the shore of the Danville harbour, the kids, plus Candace and _her_ friends, standing around it. All of them had dressed up in more sombre clothing for the occasion, aside from Vanessa whose usual clothing was more than sombre enough.

Buford wailed like the maidens of old, overcome with emotion for his beloved canoe and its sacrifice, voicing the sorrow they all felt. Over his shoulder lay an honorary Fireside Girl sash, bearing a single patch: that of a canoe.

This patch would be the canoe's legacy. A new Fireside Girl patch, made in one afternoon by Isabella herself as she'd promised, and one many Fireside Girls would come to strive for in the years following. The design would be refined as it spread to other Fireside Girl troops throughout the world, but this, the original, rough version, was as much an expression of friendship as it was of achievement.

More of these initial patches adorned the clothing of Isabella herself, and Baljeet, and everyone else in attendance. They'd all been there today, to some extent.

Everyone at the funeral now shed a tear, or multiple, at the loss of this humble yet vital canoe. Though her memory would live on, the original canoe that had never truly sailed would soon depart on her first and final voyage.

And as Ferb did the honours of kicking this second, larger, vessel off the shore with his strong legs, Isabella lit a molotov cocktail, throwing it in a perfect arc onto the centre of the pyre with true Fireside Girl precision, where it caught alight. A hush fell over the attended mourners, even Buford, as the canoe sailed out into the sunset.

Quiet words would be said into the cool evening air, speeches and toasts, to the canoe that had done so much. And to them all, close friends, gathered in the wake of a day that had taken so much from them all and given so much back.

The burning vessel disappeared, lost in the fading sunset or to the water or both, as the last of the light faded. Time to go back home.

Home, they all knew, would be almost achingly normal, as if this day's events had never happened at all. The patches their hands all kept drifting towards would be the only sign it _had_. A tangible reminder, to be put with all their other treasures and quietly forgotten.

"Am I too late?" a voice called, just as they began to disperse, the one other person who'd _been there_ : Vanessa's father, Doctor Heinz Doofenshmirtz. He too wore a patch, although not of a canoe. "Sorry I couldn't make it _earlier_ , I had to call the _repair man_ for my _building_ and then he took _ages_ to arrive- I mean, at least he's _done_ now- Vanessa, honey, are you ready to go? Your _mother_ said I could start my weekend _early_ , she should be dropping off your stuff now..."

Vanessa smiled to herself as he monologued to himself, taking his arm. "Thanks, Dad." And, with that, they disappeared into the night, father and daughter.

Afterwards, safe from one form of discovery, a certain teal blob wove between legs, to be picked up by Ferb. "Oh, there you are, Perry," Phineas said, unbothered by his pet's lack of overt presence during the day's events. "You missed a _lot_. I'll tell you all about it later. Even though you can't understand me, you're _just_ a platypus."

Perry chirred, eyes unfocused, like he _wasn't_ a secret agent and especially hadn't just spent the last few hours holding his nemesis's hand as moral support. Which he _was_ and _had_. Alas, his family could never know.

"I think he's just glad we're together," Ferb said, with a rare smile upon his usually-expressionless face. "I know I am."

"Family," Candace agreed, an arm around each of her brothers.

Then everyone else joined in. After all, family isn't just those one is related to by blood, sometimes it's the people one surrounds oneself with.

* * *

Months later, as summer turned to autumn, while one Heinz Doofenshmirtz set about cleaning up all of his inators, he stumbled across a small object he'd almost forgotten. A "Getting Back To Earth" Fireside Girl patch. One he'd earned, that day, forgotten in the midst of the rest of the chaos.

Now, without much sense of purpose in his life since he'd given up Evil, he turned it over in his hands.

Less than an hour later, Isabella opened the door to the Fireside Girl lodge to find Heinz standing there, wringing his hands together. "What do you want?"

"I don't suppose there's a Fireside Girls for, uh, for _boys_ , is there?" he mumbled.

Isabella blinked. Of all the things she'd expected, this had been the last. Or would have been, if it hadn't been for... "We do _now_ ," she explained, gesturing to a figure sitting on a bench just inside. "How would you like to be the second ever member of the Canoe Boys?"

From the inside of the lodge, Buford waved, already putting together his design for the uniform: exactly like the Fireside Girls uniform except the skirts were optional. For the boys who preferred skirts. The eventual third member, one Ferb Fletcher, would gleefully yet stoically take advantage of this option. Each Canoe Boy would of course be expected to sew his own uniform, a tradition passed down from their (older) sister organisation.

And so the Canoe Boys was born, in homage to the canoe that had started it all, who had made a heroic sacrifice and sailed off into the sunset at last. A fitting homage to a hero.


End file.
